Kott, Jan

Japanese: コット（英語表記）Kott， Jan

Born: October 27, 1914, Warsaw
[Died] December 22, 2001. Santa Monica, California. Polish theater scholar and literary critic. Graduated from Warsaw University in 1936. During World War II, he joined underground movements and resisted the Nazis. After the war, he taught at Warsaw University, while translating plays by Sartre, Ionesco, and others. In 1961, he published Szkice o Szekspirze (Essays on Shakespeare). This was translated into French (1962) under the title Shakespeare is Our Contemporary, and was introduced to Europe, where it caused a great sensation. He pointed out the absurdity in Shakespeare's works, and the modern interpretation and direction of Shakespeare's plays, which became a worldwide trend from the mid-1960s, including the Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear (1962) directed by P. Brook and The Wars of the Roses (1963) directed by P. Hall, is largely due to the influence of Cott's books. In 1966 he moved to the United States and taught at Yale, the University of California, and the University of New York. His other works include a collection of theater critiques, Theatre Notebook 1947-1967 (1968), and The Eating of the Gods (1973), which discusses Greek drama.

Cot
cotte

A tunic-like long coat or one-piece dress worn by men and women in the 13th to 15th centuries. It replaced the loose-fitting outer garment bliaut, and was often worn over a surcot. It also refers to the short skirt worn by peasant women. (→ Surcoat)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]1914.10.27. ワルシャワ
[没]2001.12.22. サンタモニカ，カリフォルニア
ポーランドの演劇学者，文芸評論家。 1936年ワルシャワ大学卒業。第2次世界大戦中は地下活動に加わり，ナチスに抵抗。戦後はワルシャワ大学教授として教鞭をとるかたわら，サルトル，イヨネスコらの戯曲を翻訳。 1961年に『シェークスピア論集』 Szkice o Szekspirzeを出版。これが『シェークスピアはわれらの同時代人』という題でフランス語に翻訳され (1962) ，ヨーロッパに紹介されたため，大きな反響を呼んだ。シェークスピアの作品のなかにある不条理性を指摘したもので，ロイヤル・シェークスピア劇団が上演した P.ブルック演出の『リア王』 (1962) ，P.ホール演出の『バラ戦争』 (1963) をはじめ，1960年代中頃から全世界的な傾向となったシェークスピア劇の現代的解釈と演出は，コットの著書の影響によるところが多い。 1966年アメリカに渡り，エール，カリフォルニア，ニューヨークの各大学で教える。ほかに演劇評論集『演劇ノート』 Theatre Notebook 1947－1967 (1968) ，ギリシア劇を論じた『神々の肉の宴』 The Eating of the Gods (1973) がある。